US administrations covered up Israel nuclear test: Analyst

Declassified documents indicate that Israel and the apartheid regime of South Africa carried out a joint nuclear test in the South Atlantic Ocean in 1979. The American VELA spy satellite detected a double flash of light over the South Atlantic Ocean. Despite the fact that former US President Jimmy Carter was briefed on the nuclear test, several American administrations have tried to put a lid on the proliferation issue. However, Georgetown University’s National Security Archive on Thursday published declassified documents, through an article, shedding new light on the flash of light.

Richard Silverstien, a journalist and political commentator from Seattle, told Press TV on Saturday that the United States has refused to reveal the Israeli regime’s nuclear weapons program in several decades.

Silverstien criticized international bodies and governments for their negligence to the nuclear test by the Israeli regime and South Africa.

“The interesting thing here is the way the United States government responded to this. It’s really shameful that the United States did not take more aggressive posture towards this at the time.”

The United States has tried to hide the important information for 37 years, he said.

Silverstien called on the international community and world governments to take notice of the fact that the Israeli regime and South Africa collaborated on the nuclear weapons test.

"Israel is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has never participated in any international protocols that control proliferation,” he said.

“Israel has upwards of at least 200 nuclear warheads,” which makes other nations “very concerned about proliferation in the Middle East and about Israel’s nuclear weapons cash,” Silverstien added.